Today marked the 3rd day that I have been working with Meatball on potty training. He turns 2 on Tuesday. These days, a lot of people consider that early, especially for boys, but he has taken to it very well, at least the pee part. He understands how to sit on both the little potty and backwards on the toilet and intentionally pee, which is crucial to the process. It's still more parent-led at this point although sometimes he says "it's potty time" so we take him to go whenever he says that!
I'm really glad I started this with him. At the end of 3 days, while I don't consider him potty-trained because he isn't doing most of the initiating and he can't do the whole thing himself, I feel like he is on his way and we are far enough into it that I don't see us turning back. I don't think. Still haven't gotten poo in the pot yet but that will come soon. For some reason that seems to come later, especially with little boys. Go figure.
I would much rather have a newborn and a potty training toddler than a potty training toddler/preschooler and an active crawling infant, like I had last time with The Boy's earlier potty training endeavors and Meatball. Because you don't have to worry about a newborn getting in trouble, and a slightly younger toddler has slightly less nasty attitude.
Meatball still resists being taken to go to the bathroom, but he doesn't resist all the time, and when he needs to go, he does go once he gets there.
I'm very proud of him because he has been so cooperative, and I'm also proud of The Boy for relinquishing so much attention from me so that Meatball could really get this thing down.
So how did we do it? Well first, I put him in underpants and a smaller shirt. I was armed with many many pairs of underpants. And I took him to the bathroom pretty frequently, like every 20 minutes or so. I'd sit him down on Elmo potty with a book or an iPod, and we'd try, and then we'd get off the potty and leave. If he had an accident, I'd stop him and run him to the potty. We had a few hits the first day, and a lot of misses. Once I started to be able to read him, and he was starting to tell me, AND I was seeing that he was completely emptying his bladder, I backed off from taking him every 20 minutes.
I established the language--I would say "it's potty time" and I tried using a drum to make a bigger deal out of it but he didn't seem to care. Other kids might. Some people like timers that make noise. I always said pee-pee, or pee, and poo, because that's what The Boy calls it and I wanted to keep things consistent. I'd frequently use the specific terms rather than just saying "go potty" and I'd encourage him to push pee-pee out. Which he started to understand a little bit that first day and really caught onto the second day. The first day, he wasn't getting everything out every time, and would have frequent pees, accidents or not, but he did better with that after his nap the second day. And today, which was the third day, once he was changed into his underpants, he had no accidents at all, and even used the restroom at the pool.
The first day and the morning of the second day were really rough, particularly since on the second day he decided that 5:15 was wakeup time. Grumble. Musical Daddy sent me back to bed once he got up, and he was on potty patrol, but there were no hits there. Meatball took an early nap and I ran out to drop off some crafts at the hospital for a little girl who is about The Boy's age and a leukemia patient. When I came back, he was still napping. When he got up, he was dry, and we got started with a nice pee in the pot. One accident happened not long after, but once we were in the groove, I think just about every time I took him to go, he went.
Our first outing with Meatball in underpants (actually, the cloth trainers that have just a little bit more fabric and thicker legs) was to Panera for dinner followed by a playground visit, where I was scared of the port-a-potty. We took him at dinner to the real bathrooms but he didn't go. He had an accident, of both types, at the playground. I'm not sure if he'd have actually gone on the port-a-potty or not. We just missed it, and he just went without noticing.
Today, we went to an outdoor concert. Meatball stayed dry the WHOLE time without even going to the bathroom, despite my taking him on three agonizing trips to the port-a-potty. I say agonizing because those things are HOT. It was about 3 hours that he held it, which is amazing for a 2-year-old.
A slight diversion from the potty story: at this same event, The Boy managed to wander off. We were scared witless. There were plenty of people (including some of the performers) who knew The Boy and no one could find him. We even talked to the event coordinators and an announcement was made by one of the performers (who knows me well, by the way) that we were missing The Boy. I actually described him as wearing the wrong color shirt. I thought he was wearing his yellow Batman shirt, but actually, he was wearing the black one with the yellow on it. But he's probably the only kid his age wearing dark blue hearing aids. He was found playing in the fountain, having taken off his socks and shoes. And he has no concept of how terrifying the whole thing was for us. Nor does he have any sort of...you know...fear.
Anyhow, I'm pleased to report that Meatball spent the entire day without having had a single pee accident. He even napped dry again. He used the restroom at the pool, too!
The tricky part is, a newly potty training toddler is much more work than a toddler in diapers. It doesn't get easier right away to get the kid out of diapers, especially if you really commit to it and only use diapers during sleep. Any time you put a diaper back on a little one, you confuse them. I'm okay with explaining that diapers/pullups are for bedtime and are for just in case, but when your child is in underpants, it's on them to keep the underpants clean and dry and it's on you to coach them (and make sure you know where the bathrooms are!) until they assume more and more of the responsibility. You'll be responsible for their potty habits for years anyway, to some extent (you probably will have to remind your 5-year-old to go before leaving the house).
It is helpful that The Boy is potty-trained and provides a good example for Meatball. It is also helpful that Meatball hasn't developed enough attitude to provide too much resistance. We're changing a habit for him. And it seems to be working.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Circle
This past Sunday, we had a party for Meatball's birthday. He actually turns 2 this coming Tuesday, but we wanted to be sure and have the party early enough for me. Just in case Ender decided to come early (no, we're not really naming him Ender).
Great time. Lots of guests, lots of food. Everyone got along and the kids were great. And it's a wild toddler celebration when someone pees in the Elmo potty and doesn't empty it, and someone throws paper towels in the cloth diaper pail. We party hard around here.
Another memorable moment: a friend who has a little boy, whom I have not seen in awhile, arrived. I saw the little boy and said, "Look how big you are!" My friend responded by looking at my belly and saying, "Look how big YOU are!"
So Meatball is 2. Almost. And he is VERY smart. But, more importantly, he is very typical. He does all these things that we watched for The Boy to do, and he does them without any sort of professional help. He has recently broadened his drawing technique to include circular strokes, which is a 2-year-old skill. He knows that he's making circles and ovals and identifies them as such, which is not a 2-year-old skill. But he is obsessed with shapes. He knows letters and numbers too, but his preference is for shapes, and he has taken to asking people to draw them for him, just like The Boy does.
At dinner this past Saturday, someone drew him a circle but must not have made it round enough, so when asked what it was, he said "oval!" Everyone's a critic.
Next endeavor: potty training. Yes, it seems like I just went through this with The Boy and was banging my head against the wall about it. Meatball is physically ready to do it--able to sit himself on the potty, able to hold pee for hours, and he can pull down pants but we'll have to refine the skill. A few weeks ago he really seemed in the game mentally as well; right now he's not as much in the mood. But he still is willing to sit, and if he is bare-bummed and starts to go, I can get him to finish in the potty. We're going to try a day of "booty camp" with a friend, where we get together and work on the potty stuff, and they cheer for each other. It might work, and it might not. It would be pretty darned cool for him to go to school/camp potty-trained next week, because he does like the little tiny toilets that they have. He's also a little bit into flushing the toilet and I have to stop him from doing that...except if he actually pees, then I make a BIG deal about letting him flush.
I don't particularly care if I have 2 in diapers...I did it before and I can do it again. But there are windows of interest with potty training and if he's willing to do it now, even if he has some accidents for awhile before really getting it, I'm going to get him started. I even bought him some new underpants for the occasion.
We still haven't sat down with Meatball to open his presents. Probably tomorrow night we'll do it. I think he will understand the present thing more at age 2 than he did at age 1.
Great time. Lots of guests, lots of food. Everyone got along and the kids were great. And it's a wild toddler celebration when someone pees in the Elmo potty and doesn't empty it, and someone throws paper towels in the cloth diaper pail. We party hard around here.
Another memorable moment: a friend who has a little boy, whom I have not seen in awhile, arrived. I saw the little boy and said, "Look how big you are!" My friend responded by looking at my belly and saying, "Look how big YOU are!"
So Meatball is 2. Almost. And he is VERY smart. But, more importantly, he is very typical. He does all these things that we watched for The Boy to do, and he does them without any sort of professional help. He has recently broadened his drawing technique to include circular strokes, which is a 2-year-old skill. He knows that he's making circles and ovals and identifies them as such, which is not a 2-year-old skill. But he is obsessed with shapes. He knows letters and numbers too, but his preference is for shapes, and he has taken to asking people to draw them for him, just like The Boy does.
At dinner this past Saturday, someone drew him a circle but must not have made it round enough, so when asked what it was, he said "oval!" Everyone's a critic.
Next endeavor: potty training. Yes, it seems like I just went through this with The Boy and was banging my head against the wall about it. Meatball is physically ready to do it--able to sit himself on the potty, able to hold pee for hours, and he can pull down pants but we'll have to refine the skill. A few weeks ago he really seemed in the game mentally as well; right now he's not as much in the mood. But he still is willing to sit, and if he is bare-bummed and starts to go, I can get him to finish in the potty. We're going to try a day of "booty camp" with a friend, where we get together and work on the potty stuff, and they cheer for each other. It might work, and it might not. It would be pretty darned cool for him to go to school/camp potty-trained next week, because he does like the little tiny toilets that they have. He's also a little bit into flushing the toilet and I have to stop him from doing that...except if he actually pees, then I make a BIG deal about letting him flush.
I don't particularly care if I have 2 in diapers...I did it before and I can do it again. But there are windows of interest with potty training and if he's willing to do it now, even if he has some accidents for awhile before really getting it, I'm going to get him started. I even bought him some new underpants for the occasion.
We still haven't sat down with Meatball to open his presents. Probably tomorrow night we'll do it. I think he will understand the present thing more at age 2 than he did at age 1.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Happy Anniversary
Today it's been 7 years since Musical Daddy and I got married. It feels like we've been together forever. Not because life with Musical Daddy is so tedious and ages me so (quite the opposite, thanks), but because so much has happened to us that couldn't possibly fit into only 7 years of time together.
As I mentioned a few days ago, this time of the year, despite being a time for celebrating the beginning of our life together, will probably always be colored by the events of The Boy's cancer diagnoses and the beginning of that journey for us. Three years ago, on our anniversary, we were one day post-surgery and The Boy was in such pain and just looked awful. We had some wonderful friends bring us Chinese food and we had our anniversary dinner right there in the hospital. I guess that was the real beginning of our mentality that as long as we're together, nothing else matters. And also the beginning of many occasions to be celebrated in the hospital, since the hospital became such a huge part of our lives.
Tonight we went out to dinner. My mother gave us a coupon. We love coupons. Grandma and Grandpa took charge from bathtime to Meatball's bedtime, and continued to supervise The Boy in various electronic pursuits. The Boy had no nap today and was asleep by the middle of the first page in the second story. And the only reason it took that long is because Fox in Socks is just too cool and he had to stay awake for it.
For anyone keeping track, I'm two weeks and two days away from my "due date" with Boy #3. I'm definitely feeling round and tubby and just...slow. I'm not impatient for this baby to come out, though, because the longer he stays, the longer I have to chase "only" two little boys. I have room for two little boys on my lap (which is pushing it) and if I have three little boys, someone gets left out. And someone might also need to be followed. Hard to do when you have two other children on your lap.
Information about the baby can be found at http://www.haveyouhadthatbabyyet.com until further notice.
As I mentioned a few days ago, this time of the year, despite being a time for celebrating the beginning of our life together, will probably always be colored by the events of The Boy's cancer diagnoses and the beginning of that journey for us. Three years ago, on our anniversary, we were one day post-surgery and The Boy was in such pain and just looked awful. We had some wonderful friends bring us Chinese food and we had our anniversary dinner right there in the hospital. I guess that was the real beginning of our mentality that as long as we're together, nothing else matters. And also the beginning of many occasions to be celebrated in the hospital, since the hospital became such a huge part of our lives.
Tonight we went out to dinner. My mother gave us a coupon. We love coupons. Grandma and Grandpa took charge from bathtime to Meatball's bedtime, and continued to supervise The Boy in various electronic pursuits. The Boy had no nap today and was asleep by the middle of the first page in the second story. And the only reason it took that long is because Fox in Socks is just too cool and he had to stay awake for it.
For anyone keeping track, I'm two weeks and two days away from my "due date" with Boy #3. I'm definitely feeling round and tubby and just...slow. I'm not impatient for this baby to come out, though, because the longer he stays, the longer I have to chase "only" two little boys. I have room for two little boys on my lap (which is pushing it) and if I have three little boys, someone gets left out. And someone might also need to be followed. Hard to do when you have two other children on your lap.
Information about the baby can be found at http://www.haveyouhadthatbabyyet.com until further notice.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Today was the first day of the rest of our lives
I guess it's midnight so technically this all began 3 years ago yesterday. Really, 3 years ago a few days ago, but before June 24, we were still kind of in denial, hoping for something else to happen other than what did. The dates June 24, 25, and 26 will be forever remembered for our family as the day that things went horribly wrong.
June 24, 2008: I was at work that day. It was the second-to-last day with students. A half day for them and a full day for us. The Boy had this weird lump in his lower abdomen, and Musical Daddy took him to the doctor. I took a phone call in my classroom on the class phone, which doesn't happen too often, and it was Musical Daddy saying that the doctor was sending them for an ultrasound. I met them at the place, to be told that they were just finished and we were expected back at the pediatrician's office, back up the road. When the pediatrician told us what he thought we were dealing with, he was in tears. Kidney cancer. Wilms Tumor. Supposedly one of the "easiest" cancers to deal with, but still cancer. We were to pack our bags and check in to the hospital.
Right around this time, 3 years ago, we were trying to soothe The Boy whose primary soothing method--his right thumb--was taken from him in order to put the IV in his hand. Didn't help that the resident who tried twice never could find a vein on him despite jabbing him over and over and over again.
The morning of June 25th was when he went for his CT scan. We didn't "go" very far to get there, as we were not leaving that hospital. More flashbacks soon.
June 24, 2008: I was at work that day. It was the second-to-last day with students. A half day for them and a full day for us. The Boy had this weird lump in his lower abdomen, and Musical Daddy took him to the doctor. I took a phone call in my classroom on the class phone, which doesn't happen too often, and it was Musical Daddy saying that the doctor was sending them for an ultrasound. I met them at the place, to be told that they were just finished and we were expected back at the pediatrician's office, back up the road. When the pediatrician told us what he thought we were dealing with, he was in tears. Kidney cancer. Wilms Tumor. Supposedly one of the "easiest" cancers to deal with, but still cancer. We were to pack our bags and check in to the hospital.
Right around this time, 3 years ago, we were trying to soothe The Boy whose primary soothing method--his right thumb--was taken from him in order to put the IV in his hand. Didn't help that the resident who tried twice never could find a vein on him despite jabbing him over and over and over again.
The morning of June 25th was when he went for his CT scan. We didn't "go" very far to get there, as we were not leaving that hospital. More flashbacks soon.
Friday, June 17, 2011
The Quiet...
Musical Daddy and The Boy are not here, and they won't be back for a few days. The last time THAT happened was when The Boy was still on treatment.
I'm much happier to know that the reason we aren't all together is because The Boy is having fun with Daddy, rather than because he is ill and we have to divide our family in order to get him better.
I still miss them a lot. They're the ones that do the most hugging around here.
Although it was very cute; Meatball and I watched "Goodnight Moon" before he went to bed, and while he was watching it, he'd kiss my belly and say "baby kiss." He is becoming more affectionate, which makes me happy and makes Musical Daddy even happier.
I'm much happier to know that the reason we aren't all together is because The Boy is having fun with Daddy, rather than because he is ill and we have to divide our family in order to get him better.
I still miss them a lot. They're the ones that do the most hugging around here.
Although it was very cute; Meatball and I watched "Goodnight Moon" before he went to bed, and while he was watching it, he'd kiss my belly and say "baby kiss." He is becoming more affectionate, which makes me happy and makes Musical Daddy even happier.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
On the Road
Tomorrow, The Boy and Daddy are leaving for a weekend trip to help a friend move. Sad, because his friend split from his wife, although it seems to be a relatively amicable parting of ways. And she gets the dogs, no argument. No children. It should be fun for The Boy because he'll get lots of one-on-one attention from Daddy and from family out there. Also, it should be nice for Meatball to have me ALL to himself for the weekend. It's a concern that I have, that once the baby arrives, they'll miss Mom.
Let's be honest--The Boy has done this before. He figured out pretty quickly that Daddy is the best anyway, so he may not mind sharing me, although sharing Daddy will be a much bigger issue. For Meatball, sharing Mom will be an issue, but he'll get through it by spending time with everyone else. I think that The Boy is going to have a harder time adjusting than Meatball. But we shall see.
This evening we had a little bit of Father's Day festivities, since they will be gone. They'll be with Grandpa out in NJ. We had an early dinner and some cake, and the boys made presents at camp.
The first week of camp at the preschool seems to have been a success for both kids. A lot of The Boy's friends from his class are there. Meatball had just a few kids with him in his group, which is fine because the whole thing is new to him. So while they are there, I've been teaching my music lessons that normally have taken place in the evening and, for lack of a better word, we've been "nesting" around the house, him more so than me.
For actual Father's Day, we are hoping to get some kosher Chinese take-out. And more cake, of course.
Let's be honest--The Boy has done this before. He figured out pretty quickly that Daddy is the best anyway, so he may not mind sharing me, although sharing Daddy will be a much bigger issue. For Meatball, sharing Mom will be an issue, but he'll get through it by spending time with everyone else. I think that The Boy is going to have a harder time adjusting than Meatball. But we shall see.
This evening we had a little bit of Father's Day festivities, since they will be gone. They'll be with Grandpa out in NJ. We had an early dinner and some cake, and the boys made presents at camp.
The first week of camp at the preschool seems to have been a success for both kids. A lot of The Boy's friends from his class are there. Meatball had just a few kids with him in his group, which is fine because the whole thing is new to him. So while they are there, I've been teaching my music lessons that normally have taken place in the evening and, for lack of a better word, we've been "nesting" around the house, him more so than me.
For actual Father's Day, we are hoping to get some kosher Chinese take-out. And more cake, of course.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)